


Man of three fears: integrity, faith, and crocodile tears

by morphogenesis



Series: ZE Idfic Emporium [2]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Case Fic, Detectives, Drabble Sequence, Established Relationship, F/M, My motives are complex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 21:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19732420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphogenesis/pseuds/morphogenesis
Summary: "If anyone has theories about how he stabbed himself twenty times, I'd love to hear them," he said to his subordinates, and nobody answered. Looking back at the solid door he knew that almost everything had a mundane explanation.His next thought was, 'Finally. I have been so bored.'Junpei solves a murder and leans on his wife in the meantime.





	Man of three fears: integrity, faith, and crocodile tears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epithalamium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epithalamium/gifts).



> Because D had a nice prompt for Multifandom Drabble Fest and I miss Detective Jumpy.
> 
> Junepei would devour tf out of MORI Hiroshi (author's chosen way to write his name), who writes mysteries with scientific and philosophical themes. His novel "The Perfect Insider" is a locked room mystery and relies on a clue that ZE fans could spot from a mile away. The solution to the locked room here was stolen from _The Secrets of Gaslight Lane_ by M.R.C. Kasasian.
> 
> Title is from "Bad Liar" by Imagine Dragons.

Junpei thought locked room mysteries were tired, _The Perfect Insider_ aside (MORI Hiroshi was incomparable), but he admitted they were fascinating in real life. It was hard to look at the savaged body of an old work contact, so he focused his energy on the mystery of his murder instead.

"If anyone has theories about how he stabbed himself twenty times, I'd love to hear them," he said to his subordinates, and nobody answered. Looking back at the solid door he knew that almost everything had a mundane explanation.

His next thought was, 'Finally. I have been so bored.' 

**

Akane said he thought too much; when he told her that was ironic coming from her she pinched his cheeks. He was pinned to the mattress underneath her weight when she rolled atop him. When her hands grabbed his face, it smelled like the same 'Warm Cotton' hand cream the victim's widow had used when Junpei spoke to her earlier that day. Even sniffling through tears, she'd offered some to him in case he was uncomfortable in the dry office.

Akane looked nothing like this woman, he told himself. "What's wrong?" she asked when he urged her off him.

"Nothing."

**

Junpei had a lucky break when he hired a forensic accountant who came recommended from an old agency coworker. Victim was a boring guy on the surface; no scandalous embezzlement, monthly deposits from an annuity.

He paid out a quarterly lump sum to a former business partner he was indebted to, widow said. His secrecy about it strained their marriage. Junpei spent a few hours making calls, puzzling it out himself. 

When he connected the dots he was embarrassed at himself: The partner did not exist. A dead man suddenly had a lot of explaining to do. 

Starting over, then.

**

Akane washed his back and then let him lean on her in the tub, head on her breasts. "Don't fall asleep."

"Too late," he murmured. She was still a bit sore about last night when he fell asleep underneath her and left her wanting. "What would it take for you to hide something big from me? Today."

She put her arms around him; her hands smelled neutral now. "Something worth more than my life." 

"You liar," he said. "What wouldn't you hide if you had to?"

"What kind of wife would I be if I told you the whole truth?"

**

The morphic fieldset felt like a lame shortcut. He preferred to use his mind, not the minds of dozens of Junpeis. Still he was lost and it was there.

They lead him to another meeting with the widow, putting evidence before her detailing her firing from her last job and the long, long paper trail proving her a thief, liar, and a fraud. "What happened? Did he want to stop paying whoever knows this?"

"It would've ruined us," she admitted. "But if I had to choose between him and my reputation, I would choose him."

'I believe you,' Junpei thought.

**

It was shibari that gave him the idea of how the murderer locked the room. And he thought his taste in erotica would never come in handy.

All the killer would need to do is take a piece of twine and tie it in a particular knot around the doorknob, stand outside of the room, and pull the door towards them smoothly but hard enough to untie the knot when the door shut.

He tested it himself four times before it worked, but he was right. Beside him Akane crossed her arms and said, "That's a pro detective for you."

**

The epiphany lead him down a trail ending with a friend of the victim who grew up in a fishing village; a husband who was tired of his wife living in fear and shame; and a flubbed plan to kill the blackmailer. In the end Junpei didn't know if he felt sorry for anyone or sorry about the pointless death.

He bought his team drinks because when they solved the case they went out for drinks; he went home early. At home he squished next to Akane in her seat to watch her work. She smelled like 'Warm Cotton' again.

**

"Are you satisfied with the case?" Akane whispered in the unique darkness and quiet of a marriage bed after midnight.

"I guess," Junpei said, and adjusted his knees so he woldn't jab her as he held her. At the very least he was satisfied with the knowledge that if anyone threatened him or Akane, investigators would find both of the couple's fingerprints on the axe handle.

Akane nuzzled his chest. "Goodnight Professor Saikawa."

"You're Saikawa," he mumbled, "I'm Moe."

"You're cute enough," she conceded.

"A grown man isn't cute."

"If Jumpy says so," she said. Cloying. Comfortable.

"Goodnight, _Kanny_."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Not the Darkness (The place rearranged remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20483240) by [Estirose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose)




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